Les Miserables

After four long days since the movie came out, we finally got to see Les Miserables.  I personally give it two thumbs up! And yet I still managed to have cried - really cried that I had to wipe my eyes with my sleeves.  We all cried although we cried at different parts of the movie.

The movie is very poignant. It almost seems like a tragedy just because the major characters die except for Cosset and Marius.  The characters seem to have lived a lifetime of misery.  Their circumstances were all different but all of them lived painful unfortunate circumstances which were either inflicted on them by others or inflicted by a personal conviction as in the case of Javert.  Fontaine in spite of the unfortunate life she lived dies content knowing that Cosset will be in good hands.  Jean Valjean although not free (from the law) found freedom from God through his encounter with the priest and found joy in having Cosset to care for.  He dies happy knowing that Cosset forgives him of his secret past and that she's happy with Marius.  Javert kills himself because he is trapped in an unsolved dilemma within himself.  There came a point in his career when his convictions as a righteous man clashed with his conscience as a person who has been shown mercy.  No longer did he know what to do.  He ends his own life instead of arresting Valjean.

It is a story of slavery and freedom.  Valjean, although under the law, was free to love.  Javert, an enforcer of justice, was a slave to the law.  And most of all, it is a story of mercy and of love.

I was amazed at how well Anne Hathaway (Fontaine) sings.  Russell Crowe's deep opera-voice suits the character (Javert) he played especially in the epic scene of him singing on the rooftops.  When Hugh Jackman sang his parts -especially when he is talking to God - the emotion was so powerful, I had to cry.  

All-Girls Week

The three of us girls are all alone together while the boys are in Milpitas doing their own business.  The atmosphere is always different when girls are together.  My daughters seem to like to talk to me more when I am one-on-one or one on two with them.  There is a sense of privacy that comes from being alone with Mama. 

The times I spend with my daughters are priceless.  It is the time when they get to be "real" with me.  When there is no one else listening to our conversations they have freedom to be honest and vulnerable at the same time.  I consider it as the prime time to float my influence as their attention is focused on me. Young girls need a time to be with their moms because it helps them grab on to the confidence that they need before they open their wings into the unprotected world.   Parent, in general, are pioneers.  Healthy children look up to their folks for guidance and assurance.  In the absence of a strong influence in their lives, the kids search for one either in their teachers, peers, friends, etc.  We just hope that they will not consider the impersonal World-Wide-Web as a place to look for a role model.

Yesterday we went hiking on the hills that border El Dorado Hills and Folsom.   It was very nice to be on a hill where we could see both towns.  It has been my observation that Shannon is spending more and more time with Miriam teaching her some of the things that she need to know before she leaves to go to college.   She taught her how to create a video of her drawing and posting it on YouTube.

Today we went to see the movie "Rio" with Emily Kennedy and her mom (Linda) and sister (Julia).  Emily is one of Miriam's best friends.  We had lunch at McDonald.  Miriam had piano lessons from Shannon while Shannon had her lessons from the PIOM.  We went to Wal-Mart and bough all sorts of things ranging from clothing to cake mixes. 

Tomorrow we plan to go to Costco and get Shannon a new pair of glasses. She needs something to use when she does not want to use her contact lenses.   Shannon will work for an hour to tutor Charlotte Leszinske...We'll see what we can do for fun tomorrow. 

Lesson from Toy Story 3

Everyone is talking about the movie Toy Story 3.  "It made me cry!"  "It's really good!"  It was tempting but we successfully avoided going to see it during the Fourth-of-July weekend.  We've had negative experiences with trying to go to the theater during holidays.  Yesterday was a lucky day - we finally went to see it.  So what did I think? 

The movie was good...it kept me engaged in spite of a headache.  The beginning of the story grabbed my attention and had shaken off my desire to give in to sleep.   My kids enjoyed it; they were laughing even in the car as they analyzed the things that pertained to 'Ken', the guy Barbie-doll.  'Lots-o' the pink strawberry-scented hugging bear was a surprising choice for a villain.  In spite of the all-familiar characters and their antics, the story was full of surprises. 

What is the moral of the story?  My children can look at the toy-characters and say that unconditional act of kindness is something that anyone can use.  Both Woody and Buzz demonstrated this in many ways.  Good judgment covers us from a lot of disaster.

When it comes to the human-characters, the lesson is very straight forward:  Let go of your old stuff to someone who needs them more than you. 

I am in the process of cleaning my closet and I can understand the feeling of parting with an old thing that served you and been with you all your life.  I have a sweater given to me by a friend who travelled with me to China. This was way before I got married.  I must have worn it only twice since then.  I still want to cling to it.  What's wrong with me?  I also have a blouse with a huge golden button on the front that I bought at Debenhams in England during my days in Reading.  It became one of my favorite shirts at that time but I haven't worn it since I had my first child.  With a hope that I might one day get rid of the pounds that came with my title as mother, this blouse remained in my wardrobe until now. They all must go now.  I don't need them.  Someone else, either through Goodwill or Alas Cargo, will benefit from my old stuff.

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

~ William Morris

Even today as my children and I spent a good portion of the afternoon helping Terry Stapleton to sort and pack her kitchen stuff for the move, the Toy Story lesson kept coming back to me.  The thought of being generous as to give and being ruthless as to get rid of thing was translated into reality as I watched Terry struggle to choose which items to keep and let go.  So I came home wanting to eliminate some of the "potentially-necessary-but-unnecessary" stuff in my kitchen.  

Invictus

Last night I watched the movie Invictus for the first time.  Thanks to the power of digital video, I was able to enjoy it at home even if I missed seeing it in the big screen.  Normally, I fall asleep halfway through movies but this one kept me awake and smiling till the end.

What does invictus mean?  The word appeared in the movie only as a written word on a piece of paper.  Here's what I found:
Invictus 1. A Latin word which means undefeated or unconquered.  
Invictus 2.  A poem written by a British poet W.E. Henley first published in 1875.  

Invictus
By William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

In the movie, Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) was inspired by the poem while he was in Robben Island prison where he served for almost twenty years.  The isolation and the punishing living conditions in that place would make one think that hope is gone.   For him, however, he believed that his soul remained to be invictus regardless of his circumstance.  "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."  As President of South Africa, he then inspires François Pienaar (played by Matt Damon), the captain of Springboks rugby team, to steer the team towards winning...and so on...and so forth.

Anyway, Invictus, the movie, is entertaining and inspiring.